p. 276

The Sages will tell you
That two fishes are in our sea
Without any flesh or bones.
Let them be cooked in their own water;
Then they also will become a vast sea,
The vastness of which no man can describe.
Moreover, the Sages say
That the two fishes are only one, not two;
They are two, and nevertheless they are one,
Body, Spirit, and Soul.
Now, I tell you most truly,
Cook these three together,
That there may be a very large sea.
Cook the sulphur well with the sulphur,
And hold your tongue about it:
Conceal your knowledge to your own advantage,
And you shall be free from poverty.
Only let your discovery remain a close secret.

p. 277

FIGURE I.

BE WARNED AND UNDERSTAND TRULY
THAT TWO FISHES ARE SWIMMING IN OUR SEA.

Click to enlarge

The Sea as the Body, the two Fishes are Soul and Spirit.

p. 278

The Sage says
That a wild beast is in the forest,
Whose skin is of blackest dye.
If any man cut off his head,
His blackness will disappear,
And give place to a snowy white.
Understand well the meaning of this head:
The blackness is called the head of the Raven;
As soon as it disappears,
A white colour is straightway manifested;
It is given this name, despoiled of its head.
When the Beast's black hue has vanished in a black smoke,
The Sages rejoice
From the bottom of their hearts;
But they keep it a close secret,
That no foolish man may know it.
Yet unto their Sons, in kindness of heart,
They partly reveal it in their writings;
And therefore let those who receive the gift
Enjoy it also in silence,
Since God would have it concealed.

p. 279

FIGURE II.

HERE YOU STRAIGHTWAY BEHOLD A BLACK BEAST IN THE FOREST.

Click to enlarge

Putrefaction.

p. 280

The Sages say truly
That two animals are in this forest:
One glorious, beautiful, and swift,
A great and strong deer;
The other an unicorn.
They are concealed in the forest,
But happy shall that man be called
Who shall snare and capture them.
The Masters shew you here clearly
That in all places
These two animals wander about in forests
(But know that the forest is but one).
If we apply the parable to our Art,
We shall call the forest the Body.
That will be rightly and truly said.
The unicorn will be the Spirit at all times.
The deer desires no other name
But that of the Soul; which name no man shall take away from it.
He that knows how to tame and master them by Art,
To couple them together,
And to lead them in and out of the forest,
May justly be called a Master.
For we rightly judge
That he has attained the golden flesh,
And may triumph everywhere;
Nay, he may bear rule over great Augustus.

p. 281

FIGURE III.

HEAR WITHOUT TERROR
THAT IN THE FOREST ARE HIDDEN A DEER AND AN UNICORN.

Click to enlarge

In the Body there is Soul and Spirit.

p. 282

The Sages do faithfully teach us
That two strong lions, to wit, male and female,
Lurk in a dark and rugged valley.
These the Master must catch,
Though they are swift and fierce,
And of terrible and savage aspect.
He who, by wisdom and cunning,
Can snare and bind them,
And lead them into the same forest,
Of him it may be said with justice and truth
That he has merited the meed of praise before all others,
And that his wisdom transcends that of the worldly wise.

p. 283

FIGURE IV.

HERE YOU BEHOLD A GREAT MARVEL—
TWO LIONS ARE JOINED INTO ONE.

Click to enlarge

The Spirit and Soul must be united in their Body.

p. 284

Alexander writes from Persia
That a wolf and a dog are in this field,
Which, as the Sages say,
Are descended from the same stock,
But the wolf comes from the east,
And the dog from the west.
They are full of jealousy,
Fury, rage, and madness:
One kills the other,
And from them comes a great poison.
But when they are restored to life,
They are clearly shewn to be
The Great and Precious Medicine,
The most glorious Remedy upon earth,
Which refreshes and restores the Sages,
Who render thanks to God, and do praise Him.

p. 285

FIGURE V.

A WOLF AND A DOG ARE IN ONE HOUSE, AND ARE
AFTERWARDS CHANGED INTO ONE.

Click to enlarge

The Body is mortified and rendered white, then joined to
Soul and Spirit by being saturated with them.

p. 286

A savage Dragon lives in the forest,
Most venomous he is, yet lacking nothing:
When he sees the rays of the Sun and its bright fire,
He scatters abroad his poison,
And flies upward so fiercely
That no living creature can stand before him,
Nor is even the Basilisk equal to him.
He who hath skill to slay him, wisely
Hath escaped from all dangers.
Yet all venom, and colours, are multiplied
In the hour of his death.
His venom becomes the great Medicine.
He quickly consumes his venom,
For he devours his poisonous tail.
All this is performed on his own body,
From which flows forth glorious Balm,
With all its miraculous virtues.
Hereat all the Sages do loudly rejoice.

p. 287

FIGURE VI.

THIS SURELY IS A GREAT MIRACLE AND WITHOUT ANY DECEPTION—
THAT IN A VENOMOUS DRAGON THERE SHOULD BE THE GREAT MEDICINE:

Click to enlarge

The Mercury is precipitated or sublimed, dissolved in its own proper water, and then once more coagulated.

p. 288

A nest is found in the forest,
In which Hermes has his brood;
One fledgling always strives to fly upward,
The other rejoices to sit quietly in the nest;
Yet neither can get away from the other.
The one that is below holds the one that is above,
And will not let it get away from the nest,
As a husband in a house with his wife,
Bound together in closest bonds of wedlock.
So also do we rejoice at all times,
That we hold the female eagle fast in this way,
And we render thanks to God the Father.

p. 289

FIGURE VII.

WE HEAR OF TWO BIRDS IN THE FOREST,
YET WE MUST UNDERSTAND THEM TO BE ONLY ONE.

Click to enlarge

The Mercury having been often sublimed, is at length fixed, and
becomes capable of resisting fire: the sublimation must
be repeated until at length fixation is attained.

p. 290

In India there is a most pleasant wood,
In which two birds are bound together.
One is of a snowy white; the other is red.
They bite each other, and one is slain
And devoured by the other.
Then both are changed into white doves,
And of the Dove is born a Phœnix,
Which has left behind blackness and foul death,
And has regained a more glorious life.
This power was given it by God Himself,
That it might live eternally, and never die.
It gives us wealth, it preserves our life,
And with it we may work great miracles,
As also the true Philosophers do plainly inform us.

p. 291

FIGURE VIII.

HERE ARE TWO BIRDS, GREAT AND STRONG—THE BODY AND
SPIRIT; ONE DEVOURS THE OTHER.

Click to enlarge

Let the Body be placed in horse-dung, or a warm bath, the Spirit
having been extracted from it The Body has become white
by the process, the Spirit red by our Art. All that
exists tends towards perfection, and thus is
the Philosopher's Stone prepared.

p. 292

Now hear of a wonderful deed,
For I will teach you great things,
How the King rises high above all his race;
And hear also what the noble lord of the forest says:
I have overcome and vanquished my foes,
I have trodden the venomous Dragon under foot,
I am a great and glorious King in the earth.
There is none greater than I,
Child either of the Artist or of Nature,
Among all living creatures.
I do all that man can desire,
I give power and lasting health,
Also gold, silver, gems, and precious stones,
And the panacea for great and small diseases.
Yet at first I was of ignoble birth,
Till I was set in a high place.
To reach this lofty summit
Was given me by God and Nature.
Thence from the meanest I became the highest,
And mounted to the most glorious throne,
And to the state of royal sovereignty:
Therefore Hermes has called me the Lord of the Forests.

p. 293

FIGURE IX.

THE LORD OF THE FORESTS HAS RECOVERED HIS KINGDOM,
AND MOUNTED FROM THE LOWEST TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE.
IF FORTUNE SMILE, YOU MAY FROM A RHETOR BECOME A CONSUL;
IF FORTUNE FROWN, THE CONSUL MAY BECOME A RHETOR.

Click to enlarge

Thus you may know that the Tincture has truly attained the first degree.

p. 294

In all fables we are told
That the Salamander is born in the fire;
In the fire it has that food and life
Which Nature herself has assigned to it.
It dwells in a great mountain
Which is encompassed by many flames,
And one of these is ever smaller than another—
Herein the Salamander bathes.
The third is greater, the fourth brighter than the rest—
In all these the Salamander washes, and is purified.
Then he hies him to his cave,
But on the way is caught and pierced
So that it dies, and yields up its life with its blood.
But this, too, happens for its good:
For from its blood it wins immortal life,
And then death has no more power over it.
Its blood is the most precious Medicine upon earth,
The same has not its like in the world.
For this blood drives away all disease
In the bodies of metals,
Of men, and of beasts.
From it the Sages derive their science,
And through it they attain the Heavenly Gift,
Which is called the Philosopher's Stone,
Possessing the power of the whole world.
This gift the Sages impart to us with loving hearts,
That we may remember them for ever.

p. 295

FIGURE X.

A SALAMANDER LIVES IN THE FIRE,
WHICH IMPARTS TO IT A MOST GLORIOUS HUE.

Click to enlarge

This is the reiteration, gradation, and amelioration of the
Tincture, or Philosopher's Stone; and the whole is
called its Augmentation.

p. 296

Here is an old father of Israel,
Who has an only Son,
A Son whom he loves with all his heart.
With sorrow he prescribes sorrow to him.
He commits him to a guide,
Who is to conduct him whithersoever he will.
The Guide addresses the Son in these words:
Come hither! I will conduct thee everywhere,
To the summit of the loftiest mountain,
That thou mayest understand all wisdom,
That thou mayest behold the greatness of the earth, and of the sea,
And thence derive true pleasure.
I will bear thee through the air
To the gates of highest heaven.
The Son hearkened to the words of the Guide,
And ascended upward with him;
There saw he the heavenly throne,
That was beyond measure glorious.
When he had beheld these things,
He remembered his Father with sighing,
Pitied the great sorrow of his Father,
And said: I will return to his breast.

p. 297

FIGURE XI.

THE FATHER AND THE SON HAVE LINKED THEIR HANDS
WITH THOSE OF THE GUIDE:
KNOW THAT THE THREE ARE BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT.

Click to enlarge

p. 298

Says the Son to the Guide:
I will go down to my Father,
For he cannot live without me.
He sighs and calls aloud for me.
And the Guide makes answer to the Son:
I will not let thee go alone;
From thy Father's bosom I brought thee forth,
I will also take thee back again,
That he may rejoice again and live.
This strength will we give unto him.
So both arose without delay,
And returned to the Father's house.
When the Father saw his Son coming,
He cried aloud, and said:—

p. 299

FIGURE XII.

ANOTHER MOUNTAIN OF INDIA LIES IN THE VESSEL,
WHICH THE SPIRIT AND THE SOUL—
THAT IS, THE SON AND THE GUIDE—HAVE CLIMBED.

Click to enlarge

p. 300

My Son, I was dead without thee,
And lived in great danger of my life.
I revive at thy return,
And it fills my breast with joy.
But when the Son entered the Father's house,
The Father took him to his heart,
And swallowed him out of excessive joy,
And that with his own mouth.
The great exertion makes the Father sweat.

p. 301

FIGURE XIII.

HERE THE FATHER DEVOURS THE SON;
THE SOUL AND SPIRIT FLOW FORTH FROM THE BODY.

Click to enlarge

p. 302

Here the Father sweats on account of the Son,
And earnestly beseeches God,
Who has everything in His hands,
Who creates, and has created all things,
To bring forth his Son from his body,
And to restore him to his former life.
God hearkens to his prayers,
And bids the Father lie down and sleep.
Then God sends down rain from heaven
To the earth from the shining stars.
It was a fertilizing, silver rain,
Which bedewed and softened the Father's Body.
Succour us, Lord, at the end,
That we may obtain Thy gracious Gift!

p. 303

FIGURE XIV.

HERE THE FATHER SWEATS PROFUSELY,
WHILE OIL AND THE TRUE TINCTURE
OF THE SAGES FLOW FORTH FROM HIM.

Click to enlarge

p. 304

The sleeping Father is here changed
Entirely into limpid water,
And by virtue of this water alone
The good work is accomplished.
There is now a glorified and beautiful Father,
And he brings forth a new Son.
The Son ever remains in the Father,
And the Father in the Son.
Thus in divers things
They produce untold, precious fruit.
They perish never more,
And laugh at death.
By the grace of God they abide for ever,
The Father and the Son, triumphing gloriously
In the splendour of their new Kingdom.
Upon one throne they sit,
And the face of the Ancient Master
Is straightway seen between them:
He is arrayed in a crimson robe.

p. 305

FIGURE XV.

HERE FATHER AND SON ARE JOINED IN ONE,
SO TO REMAIN FOR EVER.

Click to enlarge